Conversations to Change Teaching

By (author) Joy Jarvis, Karen Clark Edited by Karen Smith

Publication date:

01 May 2020

Publisher

Critical Publishing

Dimensions:

234x156mm
6x9"

ISBN-13: 9781913063771

This book highlights the importance of academic staff having focused conversations about teaching.  The emphasis is on using this approach to build individual and team capacity and to bring about institutional change. It emphasises the distributed nature of expertise in teaching which exists at all levels in universities and how conversation can be harnessed to develop and share this.  Drawing on research related to dialogue, coaching, communities of practice and building learning organisations, the text identifies simple yet effective ways to engage in learning conversations, develop educational practice, and achieve institutional goals.

Critical Practice in Higher Education provides a scholarly and practical entry point for academics into key areas of higher education practice. Each book in the series explores an individual topic in depth, providing an overview in relation to current thinking and practice, informed by recent research. The series will be of interest to those engaged in the study of higher education, those involved in leading learning and teaching or working in academic development, and individuals seeking to explore particular topics of professional interest. Through critical engagement, this series aims to promote an expanded notion of being an academic – connecting research, teaching, scholarship, community engagement and leadership – while developing confidence and authority.

Published during the COVID-19 global pandemic, Conversations to Change Teaching is likely to be remembered by its readers far into the future. Readers will reflect and remember where they were when they first read this important and timely book. At home. At home and in isolation, physically removed and separated from their students and colleagues, missing the very thing this book investigates - conversation.  

Building on notions of reflective and collaborative practice, the authors have found ways to share their deep knowledge of and passion for the role of conversation in personal, professional and pedagogical practice. What is unique is the way they have surfaced, revealed and framed the contribution of the daily practices of work place conversations in higher education. The reader never loses sight of the students who are the raison d’être for the authors.  

As one reads the words of Jarvis, Clark and Smith something magical occurs as they describe, analyse and structure the way conversations can help individuals and institutions develop their understandings and practices of teaching. The joy of this book is the way it is written. A book about conversation is rendered in ways that are at once academically sinewy and delightfully accessible. The metaphor used for giving feedback on teaching - the popular television programme The Great British Bake Off - initially appears quirky and charming, but what it does is to nail what works and what doesn’t when talking about teaching with colleagues. Moreover, the power of this cleverly chosen popular reference will surely launch future conversations over a piece of cake about pedagogy. Here again, the authors render the complex business of development of teaching in accessible and memorable ways.  

Finally, an observation about this book’s written style. I read the book across a bank holiday weekend and found myself reading aloud huge chunks of written words. Somewhat surprised at first, I realised I was hearing and savouring the cadences, rhythms and tones of the writers’ voices and also appreciating the rich and generous content of the chapters. I have already shared this book with my colleagues in the university I lead. I am longing for the day when we can have conversations about this book, hopefully face to face, as we focus on the future of teaching and learning in higher education in an uncertain world. Conversations to Change Teaching will, I am sure, become a much read, well-thumbed, treasured and talked about book in many higher education contexts.